Yep, it is a theme apparently this week. Great Balls of Fire yesterday and today the best chocolate ball recipe ever! OK I have a few of those but right now because I am attempting to eat healthier I am adjusting a few of them with ones which are also pretty healthy. Much like a good book is. Healthy gut and a healthy brain, two of the most important things.

I finishedThe Sourcea bit ago and kept meaning to write the review but I always had something come up. When I was notified of The Void‘s release coming in November, I decided it was time to let you guys know how great this book is. I wish my TBR piles was a wee bit lighter because I am really wanting to know what happened next. Considering we just had an earthquake I am in dire need of some comfort-reading and comfort-eating. As I mention above, because of my Eating for Mental health lifestyle challenge, I have to make sure I stay on course. These treats take no cooking and do not only have chocolate but are full of protein with the use of nuts. If you still believe that vegan and RAW recipes never can taste good after making this? Have fun with your Big Macs! I give up! 🙂 But let’s talk about the book!

Graceful trees and historic buildings fill Savannah, Georgia, but beneath the city’s Southern splendor, its supernatural roots run deep. The members of local witch families grace the society pages…when they’re not secretly protecting their magical work from dark forces.

Savannah resident Mercy Taylor may now be in control of the South’s most powerful family of witches, but she’s struggling to master her newfound magic. Pregnant with her first child and still reeling from a heartbreaking betrayal, she just wants to be able to use her supernatural abilities without accidentally destroying dishes or blasting the doors off buildings.

But when Mercy’s long-presumed-dead mother suddenly returns, begging Mercy to keep her presence under wraps, the witch wonders how many secrets her family is hiding…and who she can really trust. And when the danger around her intensifies to deadly levels, Mercy knows she must discover the truth behind her family’s magic—before it destroys her.

The second book in J.D. Horn’s Witching Savannah series, The Source casts a thrilling spell.

So many people have said all the things I feel about this book I am not sure where to start. It is a series full of characters you call in love with and even love to hate, the best kind of villains. It has the rich descriptive scenes set in one of the most beautiful cities in the country, Savannah GA. On top of this wonderfully wrought story as I mention in my review of The Line, the author captures the voice of the character so well, you I was surprised this wasn’t a woman who was authoring the book. Many more of the same things I mention in my review of apply to this second installment:

The Line had me coming, going … expanding and apologizing. As a real-day magic user urban fantasy books which have “witches” tend to be taken by a grain of salt with us. (and a whole lot of eye rolling). We have been trained, we know “the way” and we tolerate the fiction and we enjoy it too. The Line has, especially for myself, a lot of this and a lot of real concrete aspects of the different religions involved. I absolutely soaked it up.

Read the rest of the Review

The novel was a wonderful southern witchcraft tale. In reality, families of witches; southern family lines are not just woven into the paperback you are holding. They are reality, a generational hidden society which had one family in Savannah, GA.

What I loved about this story was the connection with the young witch. I found myself yearning for the ability to hire her to take me on her wing and ultimately teaching me her secret with the tour.. wait… sigh.. oh dear… sigh, plus that town??? Oh me oh my!!!! ANYWAY, for this series it is more than a reality but a MUST. I truly enjoyed Mr. Horn’s weaving of this young woman’s story. By the end I was thrilled with the whole package.

The author does not just create a family strong in relationship and the “reality” of their familiar magic but she creates a covenant which the protagonist must keep, even if it means working with one of the families most reviled in positions…

It was a grand tale which led into a series, and I am after all… a series whore which would garner waves of cheerleaders with blood dripping pom-poms… Thank you from the bottom of my heart for such a great ADULT Urban Fantasy!!! If you like realistic religious stories which are woven into an urban fantasy and within the backdrop of a charming southern town and without a bunch of glitter smothered trite… Grab this and get ready for The Source (the second in the series published June 4th).

You know what I really want????? I want Mr. J.D. Horn to give us a tour…. the LIARS TOUR.. of New Orleans… So.. Mr. Horn??? What Say YOU!!!??????

This is a continuation of a wonderful novel with a family who is in crisis. When we left off on the last story Mercy had found out she was pregnant with Peter’s child and her sister Maisie has disappeared…well?… Someone has taken care of her. But Mercy wants her sister found, despite what happened and what the family council members want but, to many spoilers guys you will want to read The Line to find out what I am talking about.

What needs to be highlighted is this book is steeped in diversity. We have a gay uncle, Mother Jilo Voodoo Queen who only ‘plays’ at being uneducated and in reality received a PhD but because she is a woman of color from an era who would not accept her in this role she takes the power where she can and plays a role. A golem made by a Jewish Witch who names himself Emmett and who has a creepy stalker like attachment to Mercy. Yes Emmitt is there to help train and teach her but when he starts acting jealous? *shudder*

Out of all of these, however the biggest and best surprise is Jilo, as someone who is introduced in the first book as one of the bad guys and now has become Mercy’s surrogate mother, teacher and confidant. So much diversity and as mentioned above, J.D. Horn is an author who truly can capture a character’s voice. When I was reading The Line, he is so good at capturing Mercy’s voice I had to keep double checking to see if it was really a male writer. I googled for an article about it being a woman writing with a man’s pen name. (Don’t laugh, it is rare to find a man who can capture all of the nuances!!).

Jilo knows all of Savanna’s secrets and I love how she takes Mercy under her wing to help her get control and with teaching her how to use her power. Within the world and story build, the power and rhythm is almost double the pace of book one, if that is even possible. I held my breath, I cringed, gasped and felt all the emotions along with Mercy and all the contrasting characters. I was angry at the actions of those I felt should be supporting Mercy, felt sympathy for Peter with everything he was dealing with, and just aching to give everyone a hug, especially Jilo. This was a nice surprise to have happen in the story. Jilo captured my heart when from the last book I was hoping she would lose. So many more surprises happen, both pleasant and horrific.

The Source is a tale about a young woman who was introduced to us as someone lost. A young woman who has grown to feel not good enough in her family because of her supposed lack of or null magic, to being the one who is … well? Someone who has so much power.. gosh I really don’t want to give spoilers. You really need to read this wonderful unfolding story, especially with less than a month to go till book 3 get’s here. Those of you who are missing your Sookie Stockhouse adventures will truly love this story. The writing is superior to Charlene’s (and I am a HUGE Charlene Harris fan). I will read anything this man publishes. I cannot wait to get through my TBR’s and start readingThe Void.

About J.D. Horn

J. D. Horn was raised in rural Tennessee, and has since carried a bit of its red clay in him while traveling the world, from Hollywood, to Paris, to Tokyo. He studied comparative literature as an undergrad, focusing on French and Russian in particular. He also holds an MBA in international business and worked as a financial analyst before becoming a novelist. He has race bibs from two full marathons and about thirty half marathons. He and his spouse, Rich, and their three pets split their time between Portland, Oregon and San Francisco.

Sometimes you just need chocolate! Delicious chocolate while eating a healthy lifestyle is hard. These are a variation of a RAW recipe someone on Facebook posted. The toppings are suggested and you can play around with the taste bu tit is so fun and easy and healthy for you.

Serves: approx 50 mini balls

Ingredients

1 cup ground raw cashews

1 cup ground oats

1.5 cup ground walnuts

¼ cup Agave Nectar

2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

¼ cup coconut oil

1 heaping T of cocoa

dark chocolate

Shredded coconut (for coating)

chopped cashews (for coating)

chai seeds (for coating - optional)

Instructions

To make the Dough:

Grind up cashews, walnuts, and oats in a food processor. Place all but the cocoa, carob and coconut into a large bowl and mix with your hands or if you are having one of those days just use a wooden spoon. (Personally I love digging my hands into the delicious mix).

Mix until you can form a large ball. If the dough gets to sticky, add a bit more ground walnuts or cashews (I usually add more cashews) to thicken up.

Divide into two parts and place in separate bowls. In the first bowl mix the cocoa in (this will require you to use your hands now). I usually end up kneading it together. If your house is warm it will be easier to work. The other half just leave be. Let's think of this more like ".. sometimes you feel like a nut", sometimes you don't type of analogy.

Now roll into 1" balls, place on a parchment lined baking sheet, and into the freezer for 10 minutes.

Dip each balls into the chocolate, sprinkle with chai seeds roll into shredded coconut or cashews or just roll in some extra cocoa powder and leave as is. Pop into the freezer to set again for 10 minutes.

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2 Comments

Denise Z / October 22, 2014

This sounds like a really good series, gotta love those baddies you love to hate LOL I have to say this recipe also has me drooling here. Thank you for sharing both of these treats with us. I have the series on my wishlist and look forward to reading it 🙂